Why believe anything on the television, youtube, radio, etc?

I'm a semi-new member here on ATS, but one thing I've noticed is that when someone makes a claim and posts youtube videos, internet articles, etc., it blows my mind how some people will agree with their post SOLELY because theres a video or picture to back their claim.

If I'm not mistaken, the U.S. Gov't/Military are responsible for the creation of the internet, so wouldn't make sense that they monitor every crease and crevasse of it? Especially with dedicated members such as ourselves creepin' around trying to find some incriminating evidence on a UFO or super secret government project. It just just doesn't add up that Big Brother would willfully allow evidence of a UFO or conspiracy to be "published" on the internet.

P.S. What really gets me is that people will post video's of that god awful show "UFO Hunter's". Last I checked, the T.V. is the same place where Fox news is broadcasted.

Do you believe those people who post those videos are really who they say? Could be that they are really Government Personnel who are trying to get you to believe in a cover up when there isn't one. If they can keep chaos alive then there will always be wars to be fought.


Then again, I could be from the government and trying to discredit your thread on the internet on how you can't trust threads on the internet.

Why would the gov't waste time and effort trying to discredit something that doesn't need to be discredited? No one knows what a UFO is, hence "Unidentified", or truth behind a conspiracy, hence "conspiracy".

What if I'm a M.I.B. encouraging everyone to not believe the already unbelievable media? O.o

Originally posted by denirohascome
I'm a semi-new member here on ATS, but one thing I've noticed is that when someone makes a claim and posts youtube videos, internet articles, etc., it blows my mind how some people will agree with their post SOLELY because theres a video or picture to back their claim.

If I'm not mistaken, the U.S. Gov't/Military are responsible for the creation of the internet, so wouldn't make sense that they monitor every crease and crevasse of it? Especially with dedicated members such as ourselves creepin' around trying to find some incriminating evidence on a UFO or super secret government project. It just just doesn't add up that Big Brother would willfully allow evidence of a UFO or conspiracy to be "published" on the internet.

P.S. What really gets me is that people will post video's of that god awful show "UFO Hunter's". Last I checked, the T.V. is the same place where Fox news is broadcasted.

The simple problem with that is it would require an employee base in the hundreds of millions to monitor everything. Additionally if mass censoring started happening it would raise eye brows and people would get upset. But give that some time and you will see mass censoring in the US and people wont be able to do a thing about it.

The reasons people believe what they see are many, but I think the most common are as follows. First, people have built a trust with the person relaying the information. If I were to investigate and look up every fact that my mom, or teacher or best friend ever told me I would never learn anything. It saves time to trust the person who is relaying the information so that you can simply absorb it and use it instead of having to investigate.

Second reason, the plausibility factor. If something we see in tv or internet is related to a topic that we are already familiar with through investigation, we are likely to believe in the new information. So if its "plausible" we are apt to eat it up - if it fits with our ideals and beliefs. If it goes against our beliefs, whether right or wrong, human nature is to turn away from it and disbelieve the new information for fear of being wrong about their previous assumption.

Third would be the entertaining, ignorance factor. This, in my opinion is the most troubling. There is no doubt many great, informative videos on the internet and occasionally on TV. But the fact remains that most viewers are doing so mainly for the entertainment factor. Once done viewing they were entertained and feel they have learned something, if it fits nicely with the first two reasons this person will likely turn around and start spewing the new knowledge as absolute fact. And that is where the problem starts, as this group of people rarely if ever actually investigates the absolute facts that these films claim. Additionally, these people are more likely to have "holey knowledge" - meaning, they know key points but don't intimately understand the true meaning or details of what they are actually talking about. This causes them to sometimes fill in blanks or perpetuate misleading or outright false information when they are regurgitating the facts to a third party.


Though there is of course many more reasons, I believe the aforementioned are the most important. Remember people, if you are going to base any part of your life a certain way - because - of information that you've learned, then please take your time to investigate the situation and understand the facts involved. Do not believe ANYTHING you cannot investigate and confirm yourself.

Originally posted by king9072

Originally posted by denirohascome
I'm a semi-new member here on ATS, but one thing I've noticed is that when someone makes a claim and posts youtube videos, internet articles, etc., it blows my mind how some people will agree with their post SOLELY because theres a video or picture to back their claim.

If I'm not mistaken, the U.S. Gov't/Military are responsible for the creation of the internet, so wouldn't make sense that they monitor every crease and crevasse of it? Especially with dedicated members such as ourselves creepin' around trying to find some incriminating evidence on a UFO or super secret government project. It just just doesn't add up that Big Brother would willfully allow evidence of a UFO or conspiracy to be "published" on the internet.

P.S. What really gets me is that people will post video's of that god awful show "UFO Hunter's". Last I checked, the T.V. is the same place where Fox news is broadcasted.

The simple problem with that is it would require an employee base in the hundreds of millions to monitor everything. Additionally if mass censoring started happening it would raise eye brows and people would get upset. But give that some time and you will see mass censoring in the US and people wont be able to do a thing about it.

Maybe instead of censoring everything, their just picking out the "smoking gun" evidence. If most of what "proof" is b.s. (which it is) its not hard to silence the few videos that are actually able to make a point, and/or prove someone in the government wrong.

All I'm saying is that if your to truly find some substantial proof of a UFO or conspiracy or whatever, I certainly doubt its going to come from someone's youtube video, internet article, (and definitely not) UFO Hunters.

I don't believe anything until I have all sources. I can speculate, even wildly, but such things I would NEVER pass off as fact, nor would I invest belief in something I don't have all the facts on.

Originally posted by projectvxn
I don't believe anything until I have all sources. I can speculate, even wildly, but such things I would NEVER pass off as fact, nor would I invest belief in something I don't have all the facts on.

Beautifully stated

It's horrible to watch the "informed" act so much like the "sheep" they hate.

I totally agree OP

It also blows my mind when people use other peoples youtube videos as evidence, even though they may have no scientific of logical basis what so ever.

Its always good to look through a wide range of sources before you make an opinion

It also blows my mind when people use other peoples youtube videos as evidence, even though they may have no scientific of logical basis what so ever.

Isn't it the worse?

When will people wake up and realize our government isn't the all-protecting, loving, and rational one that many see it as?

The moment you realize and understand you can not trust anyone on this earth is the moment you might start asking the right questions in the right places.

The fact of the matter is for every question or event you have for the world, you are going to get back just about every response that is possible. Post a UFO question, and you will get back answers that are in a wide range. Same for religion and tons of other topics.

And it's not really all a "conspiracy", as much as it is a sign that people just generally don't know, and that you don't know either, so even if some people did know, you would never be able to recognize it until - you actually know for yourself.

So when you realize you can't trust anyone, that is really the moment you start to feed yourself rather than eating what other people feed you. That is when you start to "seek" rather than just accepting what other people tell you. There are no sources on this earth that are trustworthy, because even if the person is right, then you wouldn't know it for sure unless you also knew.

You can understand why 1+1=2. But you wouldn't know for sure unless you could add. If you didn't know how to add, then people could go around telling you 4+2=9, 75+3=92 or 40+1=41 and you would have no clue who was actually right. You could choose to trust any of the 3 and accept it as true, but unless you can add you have no clue which is right. And even if you throw in a 4+8=12 those who couldn't add wouldn't be able to recognize another equation that was also true.

That is the difference between feeding yourself and eating what is feed to you. And education/society these days is geared more towards telling you what is what and you memorizing and acting off of that. "Everyone else accepts it, must be true". But really, it's just the blind leading the blind. 1 person who accepts giving to another person who accepts. Neither really knowing the truth.

Not that you should just deny everything either, or become the total skeptic. Like UFO's. I think it's a good possibility there are some real ones, I have little to no doubt there is other life out there. But that doesn't mean every little light in the sky someone shows is suddenly a UFO, or someone's story is true. Those who do that kind of stuff are also just accepting without really knowing.

Gotta be open minded, but you also need a filter as well.